FormanWatkins has defended premises owners and equipment manufacturers in hearing loss litigation for nearly 30 years. Our experience with hearing loss litigation began in the 1980s, when a group of well-funded plaintiffs’ firms decided they had found “the next asbestos litigation.” They brought claims on behalf of hundreds of shipyard and industrial workers in Mississippi and Arkansas against the manufacturers of equipment used at those facilities. After several years of hard-fought litigation, those firms decided the litigation was not profitable and stopped filing large numbers of claims.

In the mid-2000s, plaintiffs’ firms began filing thousands of claims in Louisiana and Texas against premises owners on behalf of current employees and contractors who had allegedly sustained noise-induced hearing loss as a result of their work at the defendants’ facilities. Our firm successfully represented numerous defendants in courts across Louisiana and Texas, organizing the defense of many cases brought by thousands of plaintiffs. Relying on our previous experience in hearing loss litigation, our state-of-the-art database of scientific and medical literature, and our relationships with multiple experts in the fields of audiology, otolaryngology, and acoustic science, FormanWatkins won dismissals of hundreds of claims and resolved many others through creative settlements.

In addition to litigating hearing loss claims in trial courts across the South, we consult with companies on a national basis to help them manage, evaluate, and defend hearing loss claims in both the tort system and the workers' compensation system.